1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the delivery of multimedia assets to a user. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and system for automatically identifying and transmitting video content to an electronic mail client.
2. Description of the Related Art
There exists an increasing amount of information available in video format from a variety of sources. Known systems and methods for searching video content rely on a search of titles or other metadata to identify entire video broadcasts or video files of potential relevance to a user. Once identified, video content is delivered to the user via conventional methods for distribution of the video source. For example, a content provider manually directs video content to a user over closed circuit television, mails a video tape to a user, or manually generates an electronic mail (email) message with an attached video file.
Known systems and methods for identifying and delivering video content have various disadvantages. For example, since known systems and methods for searching video typically identify entire video broadcasts or video files that are of interest to a user, a user may need to sort through a relatively large volume of irrelevant information to view a relatively small amount of relevant content. In addition, the manual labor associated with delivery of video content to a user may result in delay and/or increase the cost of delivery.
Thus, there exists a need for systems and methods that identify video source material relevant to the interests of a user, and transmit only those portions of the source video containing relevant content to the user in an efficient manner.